Crossbow
by graygirl
Summary: After the Pulse came the Plague, and with it the Walkers... People get bit...
1. Chapter 1

_An idea. A beginning, maybe. Or just a standalone piece?_

* * *

A light noise. A shuffle...

Max raised her crossbow in a swift movement, pointed it in front of her. With bated breath she waited. She was completely silent.

The shuffle came closer.

She waited. No use in drawing attention to herself. She didn't want to waste an arrow.

Well, she'd go and retrieve it anyway. But... No need to make more of a mess than necessary.

Suddenly the noise stopped. Max acted quickly. She emerged out of the shadow and was ready to shoot, when a hand stopped her.

"Geez, Alec!" she hissed angrily. "I could have killed you, you know?" She batted his hand away and lowered her weapon, staring at him. She expected him to smile at her, possibly even laugh at her, making fun of her for always being so 'uptight.'

"Relax, Max. Not every noise and movement means it's one of them. You do realize there's still quite a few of us left, right?" he had once said to her when she had almost shot him. He loved to sneak up on her. One of these days she _would_ shoot him. He was just too careless; and she was just too... trigger-happy. Or that's what Alec called it. She preferred to consider it common sense.

In a world crawling with what could only be described as zombies, you had to shoot before asking questions.

Right now, though, Alec didn't seem in the mood to joke around. He stared at her, all serious and concerned. Cold dread crept up Max's spine.

"What?"

"It's Logan, Max," Alec muttered. He barely opened his mouth. Max could feel the tension coming off of him. She knew what it meant. Of course she did. Yet, stupidly, she had to ask; just to make sure. "What are you saying?"

She raised her face up to his, searching his eyes. The darkness was almost impenetrable. Yet she knew. Strange, she thought. For the longest time she hadn't seen it, but now it was always there. The vulnerability, the pain. She couldn't even tell how much of it was Manticore, and PsyOps, and Reindoctrination, and how much of it was what came after. After he was set free. After the end of the world; after the meteor, and after the plague. After the deaths of most of their friends.

After the walkers had started to take over the city.

Alec's rough voice jolted her out of her thoughts. "He got bit."

He didn't need to say any more. She knew what it meant.

"He's still alive..."

Max closed her eyes.

Bit, yet alive. Somehow, that always made it worse.

"Is he..."

"Conscious, yeah. He knows what's happening. Max. He knows you and him... He wants to see you anyway. Just... One last time..."

Max still couldn't open her eyes. She clenched her jaw, hard, and nodded. She felt tears burn and roll down her cheeks. The crossbow hung from her arm, almost forgotten, when suddenly she felt Alec's arms around her.

For a split second she tensed and wanted to push him away. Instead, she allowed him to hold her.

His smell, his warmth... She wanted to stay with him like that forever. Ignore the world around them.

"We should go, Maxie," Alec urged softly. "He doesn't have much time..."

Finally, she opened her eyes again, they let go of each other and she looked at him. 'Let's go,' he mouthed and squeezed her hand.

Logan would be gone, soon. She'd have to make sure he didn't turn. One last thing she could do for him... One last, final goodbye...


	2. Chapter 2

**Eight hours earlier..._  
_**

* * *

They had been walking alongside the perimeter fence for a while now, searching for a breach. It was a daily routine that Logan had already gotten tired of after only a few days, especially since his companion was not exactly a very... "chatty" kind of guy.

They had been teamed up shortly after the new arrivals had been welcomed into the Free City of Seattle. A battered, dirty looking bunch they had been. Highly suspicious.

Who could blame them, Logan thought. They must have been through a lot, traveling all the way from Georgia through Walker infested grounds. He shivered at the mere thought. He had been mostly safe out here. The transgenics had proved to be a blessing in disguise even to those that wanted them gone and killed off before. Logan was pretty sure that Seattle was one of the few places that had fared well ever since the... plague had cost so many lives.

For the most part, he still enjoyed a pretty normal, decent life. Okay, no more traveling outside the city limits - at least not unaccompanied. But he didn't mind that. He had enough excitement through going on supply scavenges with some of his transgenic friends every once in a while.

There was just one thing that still saddened him and turned him into a brooding loner a little too often.

"You know," he said, finally tired of keeping quiet only because the other guy never said a word. "you guys have been here a while, yet I have never seen you with a girl. I'm sorry, it's none of my business, I was just wondering... Is there anyone?" He looked up and at his companion, who merely stared back. Logan could have sworn there was a hint of actual hostility in that stare. Under normal circumstances that guy would have never even thought of hanging out with Logan if somebody had offered him money. He was sure of that.

Logan didn't expect an answer, not really. He just wanted to make conversation, he was content just hearing himself speak, pathetic as it was.

"Did you have to leave someone behind? Looking for someone? - A... partner?"

"Didn't we all?" A harsh rasp that startled Logan for a second. Clearly, he hadn't expected a reply.

"Uh, yeah. Course. I guess so. I mean... For us it's different. We're still where we started out for the most part, while you guys... But yeah. We lost people too. _I_ did. I lost someone..."

Of course he didn't _lose_ lose her, he admitted to himself, but still. It hurt more than anything.

"I mean, she didn't die or anything. It's not even like I don't know where she is, you know? It's pretty pathetic. But, it started well before the Walkers. It'll sound crazy, but it's true: somebody created a virus that makes it impossible for us to touch. It'd kill me."

He saw the other guy raise an eyebrow. Probably thought Logan had lost his marbles...

"No, really. It's a long story. But, anyways. We loved each other. I loved her... But that virus changed everything. You can only hold on to someone that you can't touch for so long, right?" He chuckled at the absurdity of his statement.

"In the end she let go. She fell out of love a while after that. I could tell. Whenever we'd meet, she'd... the look in her eyes had changed." He sighed. It pained him to allow himself to go there... "And then she fell in love with someone else. The funny thing? I don't even think she's admitted it to herself yet. She's trying to fight it. She's a stubborn one. She doesn't think love is for her or something, Max..."

"Max?"

"Yuh. The brunette that basically runs this place?"

"Buttin' heads with Rick all day long?"

Logan grinned, almost apologetically. "That's the one.

"Huh."

"Huh?"

"Yeah."

"Okayyyy. - Well, anyways. She and I..."

"Dude, shut up. Like you said, not like you actually lost her. Grow some fucking cojones and get on with your life."

Logan knew the man was right, yet he felt a little affronted by the harshness of his words. Then again, what had he expected from a redneck? What did that guy know about love, anyway?

* * *

Daryl felt the growing urge to hit the guy over the head, hard. Or, better even, just leave him trailing behind. He was a whiny pathetic little asshole. Daryl had only agreed to partner up with him for the rounds because he hadn't thought it would be much different than going alone.

Little did he know then how much of a talker that one was.

He wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they'd run into a horde of Walkers soon. Stealth wasn't exactly Logan's strength. Rick had pleaded with him to go easy on the guy. Apparently he was a super smart computer genius or something, and people here considered him valuable.

Daryl didn't really see how that was a skill anyone would still consider of importance. But whatever.

That guy didn't know anything, and Daryl sure wouldn't enlighten him. Whether or not he had lost someone was his business and his alone.

"No need to be such an ass, alright?"

Logan had dared touch him by the shoulder and Daryl whirled around, annoyed.

"Toughen up, man. This ain't Disneyworld, even with those creepy 'pets' you guys have running around here. We're here to make sure the Walkers stay out. That's all. Not gonna hold your hand. Don't wanna hear about your princess."

He could tell that Logan wasn't done yet, that he had something else to say. But right then they both noticed a tear in the mesh of the fence a few feet ahead. Not just a small one, either.

They didn't even have time to fully process it before they were suddenly faced with a bunch of feral looking Walkers. With nothing between them and the Dead, they soon found themselves surrounded by the stinking corpses, fighting for their lives.

Daryl made good use of his crossbow, shooting arrow after arrow. From the corner of his eye he saw that Logan was holding up way better than he'd expected.

Until one tall lanky Walker got him by the throat and started to tear at him. Daryl shot at him, aiming right between the eyes. The Walker crumpled to the ground almost instantly. Daryl nodded to Logan and received a thanking nod in return. But it wasn't over yet.

It took them another couple of minutes before all the Walkers were down, and another hour or so before they had mended the fence. It would need some reinforcement. But for the moment, their handywork would have to suffice.

"We better tell Max about this," Logan remarked. He seemed shaken. He wiped his neck and stared at Daryl.

Both men knew it at the same time.

Daryl hadn't really saved Logan with that arrow...

When the man looked at Daryl, fresh blood dripping from his hand, Daryl actually felt sorry for him. Looked like that lost love of his was the least of his problems now...

* * *

Logan found himself looking right at the raised crossbow in the other man's arms. The guy was going to shoot him.

And he should!

Oh my god, Logan thought. I got bit. The friggin' Walker bit me. I'll turn. I'll turn into a goddamn Walker! Panic rose in him, mixed with the pain from his burning neck.

He didn't want to die. Not now. Not like that. He wasn't ready yet to say goodbye.

He just wasn't ready...

He took a few shallow breaths. Daryl didn't say a thing. He just stood there, pointing his weapon at Logan, like Logan was already a danger.

"Please," Logan found himself pleading, "not yet. I... I have to see her, one last time. You can... you can point that thing at me. Shoot me, if it happens before... But, let me try and see her one last time. Please, Daryl."

He saw a flicker in the redneck's eyes then. Compassion? Something... The man nodded ever so slightly.

"Time to kiss Cinderella goodnight..."


End file.
